In a letter addressed to Abner Burgin, Davy Crockett recounted the following tale:

“William and I were pushing through some thicket, clearing the way, when I sat down to mop my brow. I sat for a spell, watching as William made his good and fine progress. I removed my boots and sat with my rations, thinking the afternoon a fine time to lunch. As the birds whistled and chirped and I ate my small and meager ration, I tapped my axe upon the opposite end of the felled tree, I rested upon.

“Whether it was the axe’s disturbance or possibly the heat of the high sun which caused an apparition to slowly form in front of my eyes, I know not. As a Christian man, I swear to you, Abe, that what spirit came upon me was the shape and shade of a large ape man, the likes we might expect among the more bellicose and hostile Indian tribes of the Territories. The shade formed into the most deformed and ugly countenance. Covered in wild hair, with small and needling eyes, large broken rows of teeth, and the height of three foundlings, I spit upon the ground the bread I was eating.

“The Monster then addressed a warning to me. Abner, it told me to return from Texas, to flee this Fort and to abandon this lost cause. When I began to question this, the Creature spread upon the wind like the morning steam swirls off a frog pond. I swear to you, Abner, that whatever meat or sausage disagreed with me that afternoon, I forswore all beef and hog for a day or so afterward.”

We all know what happened at the Alamo. Most Crockett scholars ignore this passage as a silly story told to entertain his friend in a personal letter. Though some Bigfoot scholars remain convinced that the creature reached out and tried to save the Frontiersman the horrible fate that was soon to befall him!